Being At An Anchor On Sunday The 5th Of August, And It Being His Custom
Never To Weigh On A
Sunday, he sent the boats on shore, where they found
abundance of fruit, of the same kinds which they had
Seen on the other
islands; there were great numbers of trees, and marks of people who had
fled for fear of the Christians. Being unwilling to lose time, he sailed
fifteen leagues farther along that coast without going into any harbour,
lest he should not have sufficient wind to bring him out again. While at
anchor, there came out a canoe to the caravel called El Borreo having
three men; and the pilot, knowing how much the admiral wished to receive
some information from these people, pretended to talk with the Indians and
let himself down into the canoe, by which means some Spaniards in the boat
took these men and sent them to the admiral, who made much of them and
sent them on shore with many gifts, at a place where there were a great
number of Indians. These, hearing the good account which the three Indians
gave them of their treatment, came off in their canoes to barter for such
things as they had, which were much the same as had been already seen in
the islands before discovered, only that they had no targets or poisoned
arrows, which are only used by the Canibals or Caribs. Their drink was a
sort of liquor as white as milk, and another somewhat blackish, tasting
like green wine, made from unripe grapes, but they could not learn what
fruit it was made from[14].
They wore cotton cloths, well wove and of several colours, about the size
of a handkerchief, some larger and some less, and what they most valued of
our articles was brass, and especially bells. These people seemed more
civilized and tractable than the natives of Hispaniola. The men covered
their nudities with one of these cloths fastened round their middle, and
had another wrapped round their heads, but the women went altogether naked
as in Trinidada.
They saw nothing of value here except some small plates of gold which the
natives were hanging from their necks; for which reason, and because the
admiral could not stay to dive into the secrets of the country, he ordered
six of these Indians to be taken, and continued his voyage to the
westwards, still believing that land of Paria which he had called the Holy
Island to be no continent. Soon afterwards, an island appeared towards the
south, and another towards the west, both high land, cultivated and well
peopled, and the inhabitants had more plates of gold about their necks
than the others, and abundance of guaninis, which are made of very low
gold. They said that this gold was procured from other islands farther to
the westwards, of which the inhabitants eat men. The women had strings of
beads about their arms, and among these were some very fine large and
small strung pearls, some of which were procured as a sample to send to
their Catholic majesties.
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